On October 15, 2022, Hof University of Applied Sciences and India’s Vishwakarma University (VU) inaugurated their joint cooperation office at the VU campus in Pune in the presence of Achim Fabig, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Mumbai. For the ceremony, university president Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Lehmann made a special trip to India for the ceremony.
Hof University of Applied Sciences and Vishwakarma University are linked by a long-standing partnership with a lively exchange of students and lecturers. Since January 2021, the two universities have also been cooperating to offer a master’s degree in sustainability management. The language of instruction is English and students spend one semester in Pune and two semesters in Hof. The students complete the Indo-German program with an internship and a master’s thesis on the topic of sustainability in the fourth semester. Graduates of the Sustainability Management program have a deep understanding of state-of-the-art business management techniques and the latest sustainable methods.
The inauguration of the cooperation office – known in India as the “Hof Satellite Center” – is thus another milestone in the cooperation between Hof University and Vishwakarma University. The office increases the visibility of Hof University in India and will serve as a starting point for joint initiatives of both universities in the future, such as the development of further cooperative study programs or the implementation of joint research projects. The cooperation office thus sets an example for Indo-German cooperation at the interface of education and industry. Based on the “Hof Satellite Center”, a competence center is to be established in the coming years, from which students and researchers will benefit equally.
